Alphabet Game
by Etoro
Summary: This is a series of one shots, each chapter focuses around one word from the Harry Potter world. Genres will be drastically different chapter to chapter, depending on my mood and the chosen word. Rated T for language for now, will update if rating changes.
1. A - Azkaban

AN: Hello all! Alright, this is a series of one shots, all based on the alphabet game! Basically, I pick up a random Harry Potter book, turn to a random page, and find a word beginning with whichever letter I'm on (a good word, obviously), and center the chapter on that! Genres will be drastically different chapter to chapter, depending on my mood and the chosen word. Rated for language for now, I'll let you know if that changes. Hope you enjoy!

 **Azkaban**

It was raining. It was always raining here. Lightning flashed through the pitch black sky, brightly illuminating, just for a second, the jagged harsh outline of the stone prison, jutting out from the rock which it sat, alone. The lightning faded from the sky, leaving only the prisons silhouette visible from the shore, for anyone who cared to look into the sea. But no one cared to look that way. No one cared for the tormented, tortured souls who were kept inside. Thieves, murders, rapists and the scum of the wizarding world sat huddled in each of their cells, each going through their own personal hell. Wind tore through the crumbling walls; rain dripped between the stones in the ceiling; rats scurried about, hoping to find a dead prisoner, or at least one who had given up the will to bat away their nibbling. Even still, physical conditions were so much more comfortable then the mental conditions that they had to endure. Dementors glided silently through the halls, their rattling breaths drawing in any warmth that managed to leak into the place. Prisoners clutched at their heads, weeping as they passed, some screaming, and some had slipped into insanity, gazing at nothing with empty eyes. Screams echoed through the halls; crying and mad jabbering could be heard at all times. The smell that seeped through the building was a putrid one, of bodies gone to waste, and decay claiming the thin corpses of people that were. No one cared to look in the direction of Azkaban. A place of death, reserved for the heartless heathens who were facing justice for the crimes they wrought. Reserved for the guilty.

Except for one man.

Sirius Black sat in the corner of his cell, the driest, warmest corner, relatively speaking. He watched as a rat skittered just past his toes, disappearing into a fissure of the wall. Not for the first time, Sirius wished he could turn into a rat and escape right along behind them, worming his way through the walls until he reached open air. Do animals' sense dementors? He wondered yet again. He knew he felt their presence less when he was a dog, but real animals, did they feel the chill creep into their bones as dementors drew near? Did they feel their thoughts constrict; did their animal instincts cry at them to run away from the monsters? Sirius winced as the person in the cell next to him started screaming suddenly. Considering the thirteen years he had been here, this neighbouring cellmate was by far his least favorable. He was a screamer, only taking a break from that to cry hysterically, robbing Sirius of the fitful sleeps he usually managed. Sirius knew though, if he was taking it this hard, it would only be a matter of time. Only a matter of time, till the thin thread that strung that man to reality finally snapped, and he would slip into the dark emptiness of insanity that all of the prisoners eventually went to. _Quiet insanity,_ he thought bitterly as the man continued to scream. He leaned his head back against the wall trying hard to block out the echoing shrieks around him, his lank hair covering his eyes, keeping the world dark.

He opened his eyes with a start. He only closed his eyes for a second, didn't he? Or maybe not, everything was quiet, for the time being. Maybe he drifted off. What did it matter anyways? Sirius tried to shrug it off, but the feeling to know how long he slept continues to nag at him. He was like this ever since he came to Azkaban, vainly trying to keep track of the time, know what the month was, the day, the hour. He couldn't rationally explain why he needed to do this, maybe it made him feel still connected to the outside world, somehow. When he was lucky enough to get a newspaper, he always looked at the date, to see if the actual date was close to what he thought it was. Sometimes the date meant something. Christmas, his birthday, the day he was sentenced. His stomach did an angry flip inside him as he thought once again of the circumstances that brought him here unfairly. Peter Pettigrew. One of his best friends, a brother to him, betrayed them all. Now Remus thought him a murderer, James was dead, and Sirius wasted away. What of Peter? He wanted to know. He wanted to know something terrible had happened to him. He wanted to know he was suffering somewhere, somewhere worse where Sirius himself was, somewhere were that backstabber deserved to be. He felt a cold anger flow through him, thinking about that rat bastard living his life in luxury somewhere. This emotion couldn't come at a better time, as this is when a dementor chose to swoop by Sirius's cell. _Keep moving,_ Sirius thought, determined. _You'll find no happiness to suck out from here._ The dementor indeed did move along, and Sirius's bravado began to fade. He was just so tired.

What was he clinging onto life for? He would never escape, he knew this. No one had ever escaped from these blasted walls, and there had more talented witches and wizards in here then him. No he would die here, he was certain. So why prolong the inevitable? Was he hoping that one day he would see Remus again? No, he couldn't even bear the thought of seeing his friend face to face again. He could picture the scene almost perfectly, Remus being horrified at seeing his friend, the betrayer. Sirius, desperately pleading his case, that he was innocent, that it was Peter all along. It was almost laughable, if it wasn't so depressing. Why would Remus ever believe him? He had no proof, except his word. The word of a convicted murderer. Was he hoping to maybe one day see James' son Harry? This thought did bring a tiny bubble of joy to his chest, which was immediately ripping from him painfully as a dementor swooped by. Gasping, Sirius quickly transformed into his dog form, feeling the dementors presence slightly dulled. He should have known better then to think of Harry. Thoughts of his godson always drew the dementors close. Besides, Harry would have grown up with the official story, that Sirius killed his parents. If they ever met, Harry would probably try to kill him, at least that's what Sirius would do in his shoes. Shifting back into his skeletally thin human form, the question remanded. What was he holding on for?

Footsteps echoed down the hallways. Sirius stood up and shuffled to the bars of cell doors, curious. Who died? Maybe his screaming neighbour finally was quiet forever. Looking down the corridor as much as he could, he could see a bigger group than the death collectors was on their way. Cornelius Fudge came into view, with a few of his ministry drones tailing behind him, talking quickly to the man who ran Azkaban.

"Really, this annual checkup is quite unnecessary, I assure you," Fudge said squeakily, his voice a few octaves higher then it probably naturally was.

"It is mandated by the Ministry, you know that sir," came the reply, also slightly on the panicked side. Sirius frowned. Another annual checkup. _Ah, doesn't the time fly when you're having fun_ , he thought drily. Though, this meant two good things. First, the dementors wouldn't be near, at least not while Fudge was around, it was not permitted by Fudge. Secondly, if he was lucky it meant… he strained his eyes in the darkness, his face pressed against the bars. His eyes finally sought out their prize. As Fudge and the crew moved to walk by his cell, Sirius cleared his throat.

"Minister, are you done reading that paper?" He asked Fudge directly in his hoarse, hardly used voice.

Fudge seemed to jump out of his skin, and whirled around to face Sirius. "My dear man!" he exclaimed loudly. "Who are you? What do you want?" he asked hurriedly, his hand flitting towards his pocket where he surly kept his wand.

"Sirius Black," Sirius met Fudges now wide eyes with his hollow, sunken in black ones. "I wanted to borrow the paper," he said calmly, and he held out his hand between the bars, his cold gaze never leaving Fudges.

"I-Black? Paper? Oh, the paper," Fudge sputtered out, and fumbled for the newspaper that was hanging out of his breast pocket. "Err… here," Fudge hesitated as though Sirius was up to something sinister, but when Sirius continued to stand there with his hand outstretched, Fudge quickly shoved the paper in his hand and let go, as though it was contaminated now Sirius touched it.

"Thank you," Sirius let out a grim smile, which he knew made is gaunt face all the more menacing.

"Uh, yes. Good. I mean, you're welcome," Fudge quickly turned on his heel and lead onwards, all at even quicker pace then he arrived.

Sirius let the smile fade from his face as he returned to his corner, and shook out the paper. _The Daily Prophet_ , _this should pass some hours._ His eyes customarily slid to the top of the page to check the date, but he saw something first that made him freeze. The picture on the front cover. A nice looking family with too many kids to count, but there, on the tall boys shoulder, _him._

 _That. Fucking. Rat._

Anger like he hadn't felt since he first got sentenced ripped through him. His hands were shaking, and he couldn't make them stop. His vision turned dark at the edges as he continued to stare at the picture. He would recognize Peter anywhere. Peter wasn't suffering somewhere at all. He was safe, warm, and pampered as some young wizards pet. Sirius realized he was biting his tongue so hard he started to bleed, he could taste the blood. He took a deep shuddering breath and forced his jaw to unclench, and willed his hands to stop shaking. Slowly, he regained control of himself, and his anger.

 _I will kill you,_ he thought staring at the little moving creature in the paper. He looked around at the walls that had imprisoned him for the past thirteen years. They suddenly didn't seem as an insurmountable challenge as they previously had. He will escape. It looks like he found his reason to live after all. Revenge.

The rain continued to fall, and the wind continued to howl ruthlessly around the prison. That dark forbidding prison, isolated on its rock in the sea. No one cared to look at Azkaban. No one saw the dog leap from the cliffs into the water.

That night, no innocent man stayed there.

AN: Aright guys, what do ya think? This one was shorter then what I usually write, but it felt like a good place to stop. Let me know your thoughts. Also if anyone has any 'B' suggestions, just holler, if not, I'm sure the Harry Potter books won't let me down. This is first thing I've written in years, so please let me know if you guys are interested.


	2. B - Bludgers

AN: Apologies for the months of wait, I had exams, got married, and then got salmonella. It's been a crazy couple months. Anyways, I struggled a little with 'B' as I was going to do Bellatrix first, then Basilisk after that, but they both were darker, and after my last chapter I wanted to do something a little more light hearted, so here we go. Also, I know in the movies, they said James was a Seeker, but Mrs. Rowling has said herself he was a Chaser. :) Any ideas for 'C', let me know, and as always, feedback is appreciated.

 **B- Bludgers**

James soared high in the air on his broom, loving the way the wind ruffled through his hair, knowing how dashing it made him look. Working his way higher still, he glanced around to see if any of his fans had come to watch him practice Quidditch on this beautiful sunny morning. He saw Peter waving energetically in the stands, with Remus slouched beside him reading a book, and then in the stands to the left of them, looking much more appealing, a cluster of girls from Gryffindor. Putting on his most winning smile, James tilted into a downwards and unnecessarily steep dive towards the ladies, pulling into a perfectly controlled and neat stop in front of them.

"Well hello lovelies, how are we all doing today?" James asked, while running one of his hands through his hair, making it all the more windswept. He got a bunch of giggles in return, accompanied by a few answers. Hovering closer, his smile faded just a tad. "Ah, Lily couldn't make it out today I see," he observed.

"Ha, you know she hates seeing your sorry arse more then she has to James!" Sirius called merrily, joining Remus and Peter, his hands full of food from the Great Hall. Before James could come up with a hilariously witty retort, he heard a cry of warning from one of his teammates. He looked over and saw a Bludger rocketing towards him, so he quickly dropped a couple feet to avoid getting hit off his broom.

He _hated_ Bludgers.

"Oi, James! What are you doing over there? Get back into formation with the other Chasers, this is practise!" The Gryffindor Captain bellowed at James from his position by the goal posts. Scowling, James reluctantly turned away from his admiring fans, and went to join the other two Chasers, who were warming up and passing the Quaffle back and forth. It irked him that the captain was only a fifth year, while he was in his sixth year.

"Next year, I'll be Quidditch Captain, you'll see," he muttered to no one in particular as he glided into place next to his teammates obediently.

"Let's try that new formation people!" The captain yelled from across the field, as practise finally began.

 **X X X**

Hours later James collapsed into a chair in the Gryffindor common room, rubbing at his jaw where a Bludger managed to graze off him when he was celebrating a goal he made. Damn, it was sore, definitely going to bruise. He absolutely _hated_ Bludgers.

Sirius snickered beside him, lounging about in his chair in the most casual and carefree way that only Sirius Black could. "Worried about your good looks, princess?" he inquired innocently. James only scowled in return, but let his hand drop away from his face. Just then the portal to the common room opened, only to reveal the beautiful Lily Evans gracefully climbing into the room.

Practically leaping out of his chair, James hurried over before she could make her way to the girl's dormitory. "I didn't see you on the field today during my practise Lily," he said while sliding his way in her path.

"I had much better things to do, then watch you make a show of yourself Potter. Though it does look like I missed some fun," she smirked, her eyes lingering on the bruise already making its appearance on his jaw.

James gave her his most dashing smile in return. "Please, call me James. And this is but a scratch really. You know, a souvenir from my heroics on the field."

"Heroics you say? I somehow can't imagine you being capable of such an action."

"Well that's why you should come watch the show next time," James supplied, gracing her with a roguish wink, only earning an eye roll from her in return. "Tell me you'll come to the match this weekend, Lily. I'll win it for you."

Lily raised her eyebrow and gave him a look of disgust. "This arrogant charade might work on the other girls _Potter_ , but please save your breath next time. And every time after that." With that remark, she shouldered her way past him and started climbing the stairs to the dormitory.

"See you at the match Lily!" James called after her in return. Feeling only slightly defeated he sat back down on his chair, ignoring the pointed look he was getting from Remus. "What?" he finally asked his friend who was clearly judging him.

"You really ought to leave her alone you know. She has made her feelings about you quite clear," Remus explained.

"Oh please. This is the game we like to play. Believe me, I'm wearing her down. No death wishes this time, that's a step in the right direction," James said optimistically. "Just you watch, we'll be out on a date in no time."

Sirius rolled his eyes at his friend, wondering how James could be so blind when it came to Lily Evans.

 **X X X**

Lily sighed as she found her seat next to her friend on the stands. She usually never came to Quidditch matches, but her friend insisted she showed some house spirit and cheer for Gryffindor. She watched as the Ravenclaw team soared in the air as each player was announced, accompanied by cheers and boos. Next was the Gryffindor team, and as Potters name was called she sank back in her seat just a little bit. She would never hear the end of it if he saw her there; it would basically explode his already inflated head, which Lily hated to admit, was rather good looking. Rolling her eyes, she watched as he zipped around the arena waving and smiling as though everyone only came to see him. _Heroics,_ she thought bitterly, _as if he would ever do anything for anyone else._

 _x x x_

Cheeks sore from smiling, James did one last lap before rejoining the rest of the team, who were waiting for the referee. He loved Quidditch matches. The excitement, the adrenaline, the noise, the fans, he loved it all. If only Lily was here, that would be the cherry on top of his day. Oh well, one day she could come and watch him play he was sure of it.

Lining up with the rest of the team, he watched the two captains shake hands, and remount their brooms. James waited as the Snitch and Bludgers were released and finally the ref held the Quaffle, threw it in the air and blew the whistle.

The beginning of the match was a blur. He and his fellow Chasers seamlessly flowed from one formation to the next, sometimes offensive and sometimes defensive. James found himself in a perfect position to score, Quaffle in hand and the Ravenclaws Keeper being way out of position. Always one to take a shot, James zoomed towards the posts, already anticipating the cheers from crowd at his goal. Lining up his shot, James was just about to throw the Quaffle, when a Bludger came out of nowhere, ricocheting towards him, forcing him to do a ridiculous looking spin, and missing his shot in the process.

He completely and utterly _hated_ bludgers.

A Ravenclaw Chaser had scooped up the Quaffle and was heading towards the Gryffindor goal posts. Desperate to make up for his missed shot, James chased after him to intercept the Quaffle. The Ravenclaw Chaser must have felt James hot on his broom, because he shot at the goal posts too far away, resulting in an easy save for the Gryffindor Captain. The Gryffindor fans erupted in cheers, and the Keeper held the Quaffle above his head, taking a quick second to bask in his moment. However, the captain couldn't see the Bludger that was speeding towards him, and James tried to call warning but the crowd was too loud for his voice to carry far. Without thinking James put on a burst of speed, racing the Bludger who could get to the captain first. James was inches ahead of the Bludger, and he reached out his hand and pushed the Keeper out of the way, and then CRACK! The Bludger had hit James' outstretched arm, where the Keeper had been just seconds before. James felt a rush of pain and looked down at his arm, dangling beside him, and clearly broken.

Without a question he _despised_ Bludgers.

Landing on the ground, the ref called a quick time out as the captain rushed over to see if he was okay. "James, are you alright?" he asked his face full of worry.

"I'll be okay, just a visit to the hospital wing is in order. Just grab a substitute Chaser for the rest of the game, and I'll go get fixed up," James commanded, refusing to let his bravado to slip for a second.

"Don't be silly, I'll escort you, we'll forf-" the captain started before James cut him off.

"No, really I'll be fine. I can walk there myself," explained James. Being escorted to the hospital wing in front of the whole school was more then he could stand. Imagine what that would do to his reputation.

"Alright, if you're sure…" The Keeper went over to the referee to let him know what was happening, and the crowd politely applauded James and he started walking off the field, waving to the fans with his good arm.

 _What was I thinking?_ James wondered to himself as he made his way back to the castle. Sacrificing himself like that, and for that young captain nonetheless. He clearly had a moment of madness, one he would make sure would never happen again. Not to mention those detestable Bludgers. Who created those? What a clearly horrible, awful, stupid-

"James?" a voice called behind him.

James jumped, lost in his own thoughts. Turning around he saw Lily standing behind him, by herself, seeming slightly out of breath. "Yes?" he asked, too stunned at her presence and too in pain to come up with anything better.

"I saw what happened in the match, and I just wanted to make sure you were alright, so I ran…" Lily drifted off midsentence, clearly thinking she said too much.

James smiled, the pain in his arm dulling drastically all of a sudden. "You came to the match?" he asked gleefully.

Lily allowed herself a small smile, "My friend asked me to join her. And you lied to me, you know. You said if I went, you would win the game. Clearly that's not going to happen now."

"Ah, yes, but I didn't lie about the heroics, now did I?" James said raising an eyebrow seriously.

"I suppose I underestimated you. This one time," Lily answered.

A thought suddenly occurred to James, which he quickly shared with Lily, "Did you call me James just now?"

Lily opened her mouth in surprise, and then smiled. "Don't let it go to your head Potter. And take care of yourself, okay?" She seemed to take a deep breath before she blurted out, "You should find me when you're out of the hospital wing. Just so I know you're okay." She added hurriedly.

Before James could answer she turned on her heel and marched back to the Quidditch field. James turned around and continued to walk towards the castle, feeling lighter than he ever had on his broom.

Maybe Bludgers weren't all that bad after all.


	3. C - Charms

A/N: I just realized I'm a terrible person and didn't credit hillstar for giving me the idea for 'Bludger' in my last chapter, so a giant thank you to them. Also this chapter contains SiriusXRemus pairing, so if you don't like that ship, don't read : )

 **C- Charms**

"Sirius try and focus," Remus sighed patiently at his friend. The two of them were sitting on a couch in the empty common room, late on a Tuesday night. The table in front of them was clear except for one candle, with a small wavering flame, and both wizards had their wands out. Sirius who was leaning casually back on the armrest, sat up straighter, rolling his eyes. Trying to pacify his friend, he pointed his wand at the candle and muttered the incantation half-heartedly.

" _Aguamenti_ ," he mumbled. As opposed to the jet of water that was supposed to appear from Sirius' wand, he was rewarded with a small breeze, which made the flame in front of him flicker.

Remus raised his eyebrows. "I don't even know how you managed to do that. Come on, try again," he encouraged.

"Moony, I'm tired," Sirius whined. "Just let me go to sleep."

"No," Remus said stubbornly, "we both know if you don't learn this by tomorrow Flitwick is going to give you extra homework, probably an essay."

Sirius shrugged, "So, that seems like my problem, not yours."

"Oh please, we both know I'll end up helping you with it," Remus explained.

Leaning back on the sofa, Sirius gave Remus what he clearly thought was a winning smile. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said innocently.

Remus snorted, "Right. Look, it's not that hard." He raised his wand and pointed it at the candle. " _Aguamenti_ ," he said softly, and sure enough the candle was immediately put out by the water from Remus' wand, leaving the common room in semidarkness, the only light coming from the low fire. "See? Easy stuff, try it again Padfoot," Remus demanded, relighting the candle with a sweep of his wand.

Sirius looked at Remus over the soft light of the candle, unimpressed with his lesson, before shrugging again, "Maybe I'm just not good at charms."

Suppressing urge to roll his eyes, Remus shook his head. "If Harper can figure this out you should have no problem. You're much more talented than he is," Remus said warily.

Sirius smiled to himself, he loved it when Remus complimented him. "Me? Talented? I don't know what you're talking about," he said dramatically, feigning confusion.

Remus laughed at Sirius' show. "Of course you don't. It's not like you became one of the youngest Animagus ever last year. If you can do that, this should be simple, you're just not applying yourself," he chuckled.

"Yeah, but I actually wanted to learn that, this is boring," Sirius explained, slouching in his seat.

"If you just focused we'd be done this already," Remus complained. When Sirius continued to look unmotivated, Remus sighed, "Come on Sirius, I'm tired too."

Guiltily, Sirius realised that it was only a couple nights away from the full moon; of course Remus would be exhausted. "Well then go to bed, I didn't ask you to tutor me," Sirius said trying to make himself feel better.

"I already told you, I don't want to help you with that stupid essay you're going to get assigned if you don't figure this out," Remus said frustrated.

"Don't help me with that either, I can do it on my own," Sirius stated defensively.

This time Remus couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You say that now, but we both know in a couple days you're going to be following me around with those irresistible puppy eyes and I'll cave… and end up… helping you," Remus trailed off, embarrassed at what he blurted out; Sirius could notice a slight flush in his face even in the dim candlelight. Sirius smiled to himself, so he had irresistible puppy eyes, did he?

Sirius had observed the subtle changes over his and Remus' friendship over the last year. He couldn't help notice how Remus' gaze lingered on him a second too long, or how he laughed harder at Sirius' jokes than anyone else's. He would be lying to himself though, if he didn't admit to catching himself admiring Remus more than he deemed appropriate for just a friend, or how his heart beat faster whenever they found themselves sitting close together.

"Did you ever think there' a reason why I always ask you to help me with my homework?" Sirius asked slyly, gauging Remus' reaction carefully.

Remus stared into the flickering candle, still embarrassed at what he said earlier. "Because I'm the overachieving prefect," he mumbled.

Sirius laughed, "Well that's true. But I also really like spending time with you Rem." Displaying a confidence he didn't feel, Sirius scooted closer to Moony on the couch.

Remus glanced at Sirius, uncertainty written on his face. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I think you know exactly what I mean," Sirius said softly, his grey eyes meeting Remus' green. His heart pounded wildly as he leaned towards Remus for a kiss, closing his eyes inches from his face, when he felt Moony's hand on his shoulder.

"Wait," Remus said.

Sirius' eyes snapped open; had he misread the signs? Was he wrong about Remus' feelings for him? Sirius' stomach gave a squirm; he'd never be able to look his friends in the face again. "What?" he asked calmly, his outside demeanour betrayed nothing of his internal panic.

"Learn the charm first," Remus nodded towards the candle, a playful grin on his face.

"Are you serious?" Sirius asked, feeling a rush of relief that he hadn't just made a fool of himself, and also mild annoyance at Remus' lack of timing.

"I really don't want to do that essay," Remus chuckled, smirking at Sirius. "Besides, I think we can find a better use of our time together than doing homework…" he trailed off softly.

Sirius grinned and pointed his wand at the candle. " _Aguamenti,"_ he said confidently and was rewarded with a soft hiss as water sputtered out the candle, making the room much darker.

"See? You were always good at charms," Remus teased.

"All I needed was the proper motivation," Sirius replied, finally meeting Remus' lips with his own.

AN: Just a light fluffy chapter! If anyone had ideas for 'D', please let me know. Thanks for reading.


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